GUIDED PATH · PHASE 5
Guided Japanese Course
A mastery path for complete beginners and technology professionals.
HOW THIS COURSE WORKS
Follow the path. Advance by mastery.
The primary path tells you what to do next. You can still open any available lesson, but completion is based on checkpoints rather than calendar days.
FULL TARGET CURRICULUM
Tracks 0–10
TRACK 0 · 0-4
Sounds, Small Kana & Japanese Typing
Understand dakuten, handakuten, small ゃ/ゅ/ょ, small っ, long vowels, and the basic logic of typing Japanese with an IME.
- Basic hiragana and katakana recognition from lessons 0-2 and 0-3.
These marks change real words. バグ is not ハク, チェック is not チエツク, and a missing long vowel can change how natural a technical word sounds. Typing also gives developers a fast way to practice producing Japanese every day.
1. Two small marks can change a consonant
Dakuten ゛voices certain consonants: か→が, さ→ざ, た→だ, は→ば. Handakuten ゜changes the H row to P sounds: は→ぱ. Learn the transformation as a relationship, not as an entirely new alphabet.
2. Small ゃ・ゅ・ょ combine sounds
A small ya/yu/yo after an i-row kana creates a blended sound: きゃ kya, しゅ shu, ちょ cho. The small size matters. In technical katakana you will see combinations such as チェ and ショ frequently.
kya · one blended sound
shu
cho
chekku · check; note small ェ and small ッ
3. Small っ marks a consonant pause / doubling
Small っ (and katakana ッ) creates a brief closure before the next consonant. In チェック, the ッ contributes to the doubled k sound. Treat it as meaningful timing, not decoration.
4. Long vowels are part of the word
Katakana often uses ー to extend the previous vowel: サーバー, コード, データ. Hiragana long vowels are written with kana combinations depending on the word. Do not drop vowel length when listening or speaking.
sābā · server
kōdo · code
dēta · data
5. Typing Japanese is sound-to-script input
With a Japanese IME, you usually type a romanized sound sequence and the IME converts it to kana; you can then choose kanji candidates. For example, typing 'nihongo' produces にほんご, and conversion can produce 日本語. The IME is a production aid, not a substitute for knowing how the kana sound.
6. Reinforce sound changes in the right tools
Use Kana Dojo for symbol-level recall and the Language IDE when you want to type actual Japanese structures.
Kana Dojo — voiced & combination kana
Why here: The Dojo can reinforce dakuten/handakuten and the kana shapes that still slow you down.
How to use it for this lesson: Include voiced variants in your practice. When ば and ぱ are confused, deliberately alternate them instead of reviewing the whole chart.
Open Kana Dojo →Language IDE — typing practice
Why here: Typing becomes more useful when it produces meaningful sentence components instead of isolated kana.
How to use it for this lesson: Open the IDE after this lesson and type a few familiar words such as バグ, テスト, コード, and 日本語. Observe the IME conversion before you worry about grammar.
Open Language IDE →7. Sound-change debugging sheet
Write five base kana and transform each with dakuten or handakuten. Then write three small-ゃ/ゅ/ょ combinations, three words containing small っ/ッ, and three long-vowel katakana words. Read every result aloud.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHEET
Kana Sound Debugger
Create examples for dakuten/handakuten, small ゃ/ゅ/ょ, small っ/ッ, and long vowels. Read each aloud and mark the exact symbol that changes the sound.
Tip: on a foldable or tablet, use your pen directly on the page. Your strokes are saved in this browser as you work.
Kana Sound Debugger
Create examples for dakuten/handakuten, small ゃ/ゅ/ょ, small っ/ッ, and long vowels. Read each aloud and mark the exact symbol that changes the sound.
